86 THE THEATRE tory; his patter songs trip right along, and his "Tit-willow," which he sings perched in the branches of a bonsai fir, is all one could wish for A t the performance I saw, John Keane was Nanki-Poo for the first act and Richard March for the second (Mr. Keane was suddenly indisposed), and Marie Baron Y um- Y um. That fir, again on a bare stage, brings us back to the scenery; designed by Susan Ben- son, who also designed the handsome costumes, it is simple and of great distinction. At one point, in the second act, an enormous palanquin is brought on; slowly it is opened-first the side panels, then the top-and out steps the Mikado ( Avo Kittask). There is no limit to Mr. Macdonald's inventive- ness in both direction and choreogra- phy; the acrobatics and dancing greatly enhance the production, and so does the lighting, by Michael J. Whitfield. I nnocent Merriment T HE production of "The Mi- kado" now at the Virginia originated in Stratford, On- tario, and is currently on tour through the United States. (It will play here at least through May 10th.) Under the inspired direction of Brian Macdon- ald, it is as near perfection as makes no matter-sassy, witty, musical, and lovely to look at. At the beginning, an enormous paper fan unfurls at the rear of an almost bare stage; then the gen- tlemen of Japan enter and form a semicircle while unfurling fans of their own, and presently, when Nanki-Poo, in search of Yum- Yum, sings "A Wandering Minstrel I," they close the circle around him. That opening, in its simplicity and charm, is just an indication of treasures to come. Sullivan's music delights the ear, song after song, in the arrangements by Berthold Carriere, who is also the musical director. The words (clear and unamplified) are dotted with mod- ern references, all of them apt and funny; I'm sure that Gilbert would have welcomed Joan Rivers and Jane Fonda to Ko-Ko's Little List and ap- proved the particular punishments that fit the Mikado's new crimes. The apparent joy in performance, to say nothing of the skill, fills the house along with the words and music. Richard McMillan's Pooh-Bah, tall and skinny, in thick-soled shoes, is the true embodiment of the fabled J apa- nese aristocrat, a one-man parody of all those samurai attitudes and bits of business in all those Japanese movies. Arlene Meadows is the best Katisha, the most melodious, I've ever seen (from the D'Oyly Cartes on), giving her every song full value and betraying the script only by being unable to quite transform her pretty face into that of the ugly old woman so repulsive to Ko- Ko, as required by Gilbert. Her rendition of her song "Alone, and Yet Alive" sounded so fresh and strong that I felt I was hearing it for the first time. Eric Donkin is a sturdy Ko-Ko ( rather than the spindly one we're used to), and is in every way satisfac- " M R. COWARD has written as deft, malicious, and fascinating a comedy as you could hope to see. His characteristic juxtaposition of peculiar words has never been neater ('You always had a certain seedy grandeur, Charles,' one of the spec- tral damsels tells the hero in a typical love scene); his comic invention was never more brilliant or profuse . . . and seldom, I think, has anybody varied the ancient triangle with quite so much ingenuity and malignant charm." Thus, somewhat cut, Wolcott Gibbs in this magazine on the original N ew York production of "Blithe Spirit," in 1941. You'd think that a comedy so perfectly wrought would almost play itself. You'd be wrong. The revival of "Blithe Spirit," at the Neil Simon, is a dud; even those "peculiar words" are miked, and therefore blurred and un- attached to the speak- ers-not that most of the speakers do much for them anyway. The story, in case you need remind- ing, is about a writer who invites a medium to spend an evening at his house and perform a séance with ;:::) - " " .....c:::::> - . 1>--<-. ,.,.... ' _ ........ V- ., oF' :. lJ!, ; ( i,m -'" .... \. .., · T.. ( ,. "". .., ,.' . .. : ..-.. ... . -If THE.. MILKY WAY (Detai' )